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Episode 008 – “The Ambush”

Question: Can one trust psychotic pepperpots that trundle about offering to execute everyone?

Answer: Did you notice the title of tonight’s episode?

I can only assume from this story that “Thall” is an ancient Skaronianite word meaning, “really gullible”. Of course, it doesn’t help that Susan doesn’t know for sure what the Daleks were up to, but one would think that either she or they would be smart enough to notice a potential problem.

On the other hand, the bit with Ian stuck inside the Dalek, which is then magnetized to the floor, is nice and tense. I’m willing to bet the Dalek operators often felt stuck, too.

Another nice touch? The lift floor numbers are in binary. Never noticed that before. I do wonder why the Daleks have a sculpture lying around. Doesn’t seem like their thing. Why they have stockpiles of fresh fruits and vegetables is also a thing to ponder, as is the fact that the TARDIS crew constantly make references to “human beings” when talking about the Skarotianans.

As a last note, I’ll say that Ian’s summary of the situation to the Thalls is pretty spot-on.